Taiwanese Tech Giants Asus has a massive range of Smartphones in India priced from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000. The latest smartphone launched by the company is the updated version of Asus Zenfone Max that was launched earlier in January 2016. The Zenfone Max now features a more powerful processor and the newer version of Android OS that comes in two variants. A 2 GB RAM variant priced at Rs 9,999 and a 3 GB RAM variant priced at Rs 12,999 respectively.

Design

Asus Zenfone Max has curved back design that makes the smartphone look sleek like a spine when viewed from the side angle. Because of its curved design and coarse plastic finish at the back, the device fits well and good to hold in the palm. As per the design, the only drawback of the smartphone is that it is a bit heavy phone that weighs 204 grams, quite heavy for a 5.5-inch smartphone.

Image Source: Android Central

The Zenfone Max comes in many different colors like orange, black and white. The three capacitive touch buttons are on the bottom of the display. The power and the volume buttons are on the right side of the device. The same circular camera is at the back of the device with LED flash. A loud speaker grill is at the bottom.

Image Source: You tube

Display

The Zenfone Max features a 5.5-inch TFT LED (720 * 1280 resolution) display that features Asus TriVivid Technology. the device also features Blue-light Filter Display technology to prevent stressing of eye even after a long use. The display of Zenfone Max is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

Even with 720 p resolution, the display of Zenfone Max is pretty good as other full HD Smartphones which are of same price category. The display and brightness is as good as many other mid-range smartphones. The wide viewing angle of the device is also quite impressive, however the under the bright light, the display visibility of the Zenfone Max becomes a bit poor because of the reflective nature of its screen.

Software

Zenfone Max now runs on latest Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS that gives you the new features like Now on Tap. The smartphone features Asus Zen UI interface pre-loaded with manu inbuilt apps.

The UI of Zenfone Max is a bit slow and sluggish because of its heavy customization. This makes the switching between the apps bit slow when compared to other smartphones.

Hardware

The Zenfone Max is powered by 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor. The device comes in two variants, one with 2 GB RAM and other with 3 GB RAM. The GPU in Zenfone max is Adreno 405 .The device now features in-built memory of 32 GB that can be expanded using a microSD card up to 64 GB.

The Smartphone impresses with its hardware performance. The device performs well while multi-tasking, however it takes some time while switching between the apps but overall, the smartphone delivers well with ease.

Camera

Zenfone Max features a 13 mega-pixel rear camera with dual-LED flash that features f/2.0 aperture, Laser Auto-focus Technology and Pixel Master 2.0 for better picture quality. The front camera of the device is a 5 mega-pixel shooter.

The camera on Zenfone Max processes images quickly, however the it takes a bit time to lock focus. The picture quality of the images clicked in the day time is quite impressive. However, there is not much improvement on the images clicked in low-light.

Battery

Zenfone Max is backed with a 5,000 mAh non-removable battery which is rated to deliver up to 914.4 hours of standby time and up to 37.5 hours of 3G talk-time. The battery of Zenfone Max can deliver up to two-to-three days of backup easily at an average use of the smartphone.

hdr

Asus has also added a Power-Saver mode that adjusts the performance of the processor, brightness of the display and restricts the access to the apps which consumes more battery power. The Power-Save mode has further four sub categories that are performance, normal, power-saving and super-power-saving.

Verdict

The Zenfone Max is a highly considered smartphone for those who prefer Smartphone with huge battery backup. The smartphone also features and impressive design and consistent camera and over all performance. The only drawback of the smartphone is its bulky size and heavy weight when compared to other smartphones.

Also, as per the price tag of Zenfone Max, there are many other smartphone like Moto G4 Plus, Lenovo ZUK Z1 that gives more features as when compared with Zenfone Max. So, the Zenfone Max has surely to face a tough competition ahead.